Sometimes, things turn out to be more fun when unplanned…my BET Experience & more

So by now, you all know that I achieved my dream of attending the BET Awards for the first time this year…and yes watch out, the Grammys and Oscars could be next! But the real story is how I finally made the decision to attend the BET Awards, the uncertainties and the many adventures in between. If you think you saw it all on social media, then think again and buckle your seat belts!!!

When I returned from Cannes in May, I went for a US visa and thought it would be great to do the BET Awards since it was happening in June. I immediately started looking into the process of getting media accreditation in order to make it possible. I visited the official website for BET but unlike the Cannes Film Festival, which clearly had information on media applications, there was nothing like that for the BET Awards.

Although I had a Ghanaian contact at BET, I knew she had left the network so I didn’t even go to her to find things out (I later found out that she could have been of help if I had asked). I then emailed my contact at Viacom International Media Networks (who worked on my accreditation for the MTV Europe Music Awards I attended in Rotterdam last year), only to get an automated response saying she had left the company. The automated message also included the email address for two people who were now handling communications/PR for Viacom. I emailed them but never got an answer.

My anxiety started to mount as I continued to find out means to get accreditation for the awards. I contacted another friend who does publicity in Hollywood and she sent me a link with which I could apply for accreditation. It was right before the deadline so I managed to squeeze in my application on time. In fact, another friend sent me a different link and I applied as well.

After these applications, I now started waiting to hear from BET whether my request was accepted. Of course as one of Africa’s leading bloggers in the entertainment sector I was almost convinced that my request would be accepted. But after waiting and waiting, that appeared to be a mirage and maybe just maybe I had rated myself a little more than I’m worth…hahaha!!!

With each passing day to the event, I got frustrated when I wasn’t hearing anything. The only other option that could guarantee me attending the BET Awards was to buy a VIP ticket package. But with VIP packages going for around $1,100 to $2500 and $4500, that was really not an option for me. In fact I started an online campaign for my readers and social media community to contribute towards my dreams of attending the awards. Days passed without a single donation. In fact at some stage I even joked (not lied) on social media that I had received donations from two people, just to encourage other people to donate. Well, that didn’t get any positive results.

The event date inched closer and the frustration grew further, as I had to plan my travels adequately. I decided to get cheap tickets for 3-days of BET Experience- Staples Center concerts, so that incase I got my passes last minute while in Los Angeles, then I wouldn’t have wasted too much money on tickets anyway (in fact I was planning to resell those tickets if I finally got my accreditation from BET).

The BET Experience concerts were starting from Thursday to Saturday ahead of the awards on Sunday. On the Sunday night ahead of it all, I decided to leave Ghana on Tuesday to arrive in L.A on Wednesday so I could rest a day before the concerts. The last minute planning meant my flight was rather expensive. I went ahead to book my flight from Accra to Amsterdam to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to New York so that I could tour the US a bit after the awards.

Hello, City of Angels!!!

As fate would have it, I arrived in L.A after a 10 hour flight from Amsterdam and checked into the Los Angeles Vacation Rooms, a ‘hotel’ I booked based on proximity to the Staples Center, Venue for the BET Experience concerts (stay tuned for my terrible experience with that hotel in my upcoming ‘that type of hotel’ series on my stay in America.)

Soon, it was already Thursday and time for the first night of the concerts. During the day however, I visited the Hollywood Walk of Fame for my experience of Hollywood. I enjoyed it although I felt stupid after tipping some action figures and cartoon characters too much to have photos with them. I soon learnt how to ‘walk the streets of Hollywood’… literally!

In the evening, I made my way to the Staples Center and found my way to my seat inside the auditorium. I booked the same seat for 3 nights. Although it was far from the stage it was right on top of the stage so I could see the performance pretty well…at least whenever the artists decided to stay on stage instead of running through the crowd.

I got some good videos to share on social media, and in fact when a friend saw that I was indeed at the awards, he made $100 donation for my troubles…hurray!!! Performing on the night were Kid Cudi, Snoop Dogg, Wiz Khalifa, Pusha T, Desiigner, Playboi Carti and more!!!

On Friday, some friends of mine came from Iowa as well to attend the Friday show, so I moved from my hotel to join them a new one, close to airport. Although the new hotel was farther from the Staples Center, it was very close to the airport and ideal for my 6am flight to New York, on Monday.

Although I had still not heard from BET regarding my accreditation to officially attend the main BET Awards on Sunday, I had some little hope on Friday evening, when I was invited by a friend to be her guest to the welcome party for BET International award nominees at the Grammys Museum. I was hoping to get a last minute BET Awards ticket from BET International arm of the network.

So I passed through party before heading to the Staples Center for Friday’s concert. It was an opportunity to see the Ghanaians who had also come for the event. I met Becca but Stonebwoy couldn’t make it because he had a rehearsal that took some steam away from him earlier. After sticking around for a bit I headed off to the Staples Center.

My friends were already the Staples Center, so when I got there I called to inform them I had arrived. We had tickets for different zones so it wasn’t going to be possible for us to be seated together. In fact they were in a cool exclusive zone a bit closer to the stage but from across. They managed to sneak me in there to join them (ha-ha did I mention one of them was a Ghanaian?) Performers on the night included DJ Khaled & Friends, Bryson Tiller, Jhene Aiko, Jidenna, Khalid, THEY, H.E.R and more.

On Saturday, my day got off to a busy start when I received a WhatsApp message from Becca that I should join her as a guest to the BET International presentation for award winners (yes the infamous ceremony that is pre-recorded to announce winners for Africa and Europe.)

Becca told me she put me on the guest list so I could attend the early afternoon event. I got into an Uber and headed to the Microsoft Theatre for the event. When I got there, I asked for the guest list but the security was not aware of such a list. I told them I had come for the award presentation and I was handed a wristband to join a bunch of seat fillers for the ceremony.

with Stonebwoy after the BET Award for Best International Act: Africa was announced

After the recording was done, I headed out of the venue where I received another tag for BETX Live! (106 & Park Live) event but since I had to go interview Koshie Mills on the set of ‘Diaspora Dialogues’, I headed out for that. The interview started late and I realized I could have done a bit of the BETX Live! (106 & Park Live) before heading that way.

After the interview, I was tired so I went to the hotel to rest and wait for my friends to get in touch with me so I join them to Venice Beach, as planned the previous night. I was so tired that I dozed off while waiting for their call. In fact the only thing that woke me up was the chiming of the hotel fire alarm. When the alarm went off, I immediately joined the other hotel guests to make a quick exit as per instructions. But we soon found out it was only a false alarm.

I called my friends after I saw their missed call to find out where they were. Looking at the distance of Venice beach, I dressed up and took my ticket so I would head to the Staples Center for the Saturday concert, right from the beach. Again I hopped onto Uber and made my way to the beach (but not after two previous cars cancelled my trip after because I had pinned in the wrong location).

Thinking, I was going to Labadi beach back home in Ghana, I went through the central entrance for the Venice Beach. To my surprise it was a huge stretch and finding my friends took longer than expected so I had to jump into another Uber to head towards Staples Center, without seeing them.

I made my way to the concert and it turned out to be really fun!!! Yes I had fun, even after finding out that the two Uber drivers that cancelled my ride earlier in the day had reported me as a ‘no show’ and I had been billed $5 each. Performers on the night included A$AP Rocky, Schoolboy Q, Rae Sremmurd, Gucci Mane, Migos, Young Thug, Lil Yachty and more!

After the Saturday concert, my BET Experience was officially over as Sunday came and I still didn’t have a ticket to the BET Awards. I tried some last minute lobbying on social media trying to catch the attention of all the BET Networks from Africa to International to USA, but there was no luck.

my BET Experience ..its a wrap

In fact when I got an email from a lady who had sent me photos from the previous night, I felt that my work and presence in L.A had been felt to the extent that ‘they’ found me to send photos for me to post. I was so disparate that I replied that email asking that if she could help me with a ticket… no I didn’t get a reply either!

In fact, when by 5pm I had heard nothing regarding BET Award ticket, I gave up and went downstairs to find something to eat at the restaurant in the hotel. After treating myself to some good food, I returned to the room to rest. Just before I could sleep, I decided to check my WhatsApp messages, and there was one from Becca saying that she had a ticket for me and had been trying to reach me.

meal at Crown Plaza Hotel

I immediately replied her to find out if it wasn’t too late to meet her, and how I could meet her for the ticket since red carpet was almost over. Becca told me to meet her or her assistant at the gates to the Microsoft Theatre.

I quickly ironed something to wear, dressed up and ordered an Uber immediately. The first driver after getting so close cancelled the trip on me, yes what a time to experience more Uber drama. I instantly requested for another one and waited for it to arrive, as the clock ticked away. After anxiously waiting longer than the estimated time of arrival, the driver finally showed up. Oh by the way I was using Uber Pool because the distance to the Microsoft Theatre was far from my hotel. So I shared the cost of my trip with two people who were already in the car when it arrived.

As we made our way into town, I started conversing with the driver, whom I found out was Nigerian. I explained that I was late for the BET Awards and he said he would try to use the best route to beat traffic, and wow what intense traffic we were surprised with on a Sunday!!! Although the driver wasn’t sure whether my destination would be first as he was being directed by his Uber GPS, he tried to make the journey fast for everyone.

Fortunately the driver had access to the Express Lane, which cut down the traffic and distance tremendously. Luckily too, I was the first passenger to be dropped off in the pool. When I got to my destination, I dashed off to the gate I was supposed to meet Becca’s assistant for the ticket, well at least I thought so!

I called her on WhatsApp to tell her I had arrived and she tried to make her way out to bring me the ticket but was told if she got out, she wouldn’t be allowed back in. And in her desperation to find a way out, we also found out that I was at the wrong gate after I took a shot of where I was standing and a photo of myself to send to her. Her battery was low and my Internet kept tripping so we struggled to stay in touch…yes more drama!

Well after wasting another 10 minutes or so, I found my way to the right entrance and saw her from afar. She then gave the ticker to one of the security to bring to me. When we entered, we were not allowed to enter the auditorium immediately because the show was ongoing.

Met the brothers Kwame Boateng and Kwesi Boakye at the Microsoft Theatre

We had to stand outside and wait till it was time for a commercial break. Finally we made our way inside and I was more than excited. Of course I missed the first one-hour or so of the show, so I missed out on some of the performances including Bruno Mars, Future, Migos, Trey Songz, Chris Brown, Big Sean, Mary J. Blige, French Montana, Kendrick Lamar and others. But I enjoyed the show especially the exciting performance from iconic groups such as Xcape and New Edition. I also got to see DJ Khaled, Tamar Braxton, Lil Wayne and Maxwell.

I also received a Platinum VIP tag that allowed me almost anywhere, including all the exclusive celebrity parties after the show. This tag came as part of the $4,500 VIP package and I intended to use it fully, at least catch some celebs for a few selfies. Sadly, after hanging around and charging my phone for about an hour, I couldn’t catch word on where the big parties were being held…yes they were that exclusive.

After hustling for tickets, who would have thought i’d end up with Platinum VIP pass?

I was disappointed that the tag was going to be wasted and in fact I gave it out to someone to use. But there was some good news for me after all; the CEO of Zylofon Media has given Becca some money to give to me to take care of some of the expenses I made for my trip. God bless his heart!!! Anyway I ended up going to the BET Awards/ BET Experience after party but after some minutes, I could feel the tiredness so I grabbed an Uber and headed to my hotel to sleep a bit for my 6am flight to New York.

Hello Brooklyn!!!

I woke up early in the morning and got ready for my 6am flight. Since I was in an airport hotel, I just got my stuff in the shuttle and headed to Delta terminal for my flight. After a rather hectic queue through immigration, I made my way to the gate only to realize that the flight had been delayed for some few minutes, which later turned into an hour.

We finally boarded the plane for the 5-hour flight to New York. Well, after a little napping here and there, we finally arrived in New York. I probably should have taken a train from the airport to Brooklyn but I was too tired to start looking around for the train station. So, I picked an Uber as usual. It was a long drive to my hotel. Once I arrived, I quickly checked in to my room and headed out for some food. I found a Thai restaurant and immediately ordered for some spicy pork fried rice. It was so nice that I ordered the shrimp version to take to my room.

When I got back to the room, I was faced with what had been my dilemma throughout my stay in the USA; the time difference and how to work effectively so that my blog didn’t stay inactive for too long, and timely enough for reader back home to enjoy. I did some work before sleeping and somewhere in between, I finished my shrimp fried rice also before going to bed!

Thai Pork fried rice at Mee Thai restaurant

Originally I was supposed to stay in Brooklyn for some 3 days but changed plans to add Virginia to my US trip. I therefore basically had only after my arrival in Brooklyn to explore New York. I got in touch with some friends who were available to meet and show me around the fun places in town.

We visited Times Square in Manhattan to catch up, look around and have lunch before I went back to my hotel to rest a bit since one of my friends had offered to take out clubbing later in the day.

I joined my friend to go to a rather cool club called Up & Down, where we saw Ivorian footballer Salomon Kalou also clubbing with his friends. He was pleasantly surprised when we recognized him and said hello, since most of the Americans didn’t know who he was. We partied till very late in the morning. I then went to my hotel to have some rest before my flight to Virginia.

I managed to sleep a little before heading to Penn Station New York to catch a train to the Newark Airport. Oh I forgot to tell you I had on me some bottles of shito and a load of dry fish to give to family in the USA…typical yeah? I remember when I arrived in Los Angeles and the customs guy asked me what type of fish I had with me. ‘Is it Ethiopian fish?’, he asked. I told him it was dried fish from Ghana and then he jokingly said, “Oh ok Ghanaian fish, it might smell but it is allowed.”

Anyway I made my way to the airport with my luggage, checked in, boarded and made my way to Washington Dulles Airport.

Hello DMV area!!

Dinner at ense of Thai St., One Loudoun

I arrived in Virginia and made my way to the hotel, which was again not too far from the airport. The Aloft Hotel is an easy-styled one that didn’t come with a full restaurant so I called the reception to find out a cool place I could have dinner, after checking in. I then requested for an Uber and made my way to yet another Thai restaurant, this time in the One Loudoun Plaza. After a good meal I returned to the hotel to rest my tired bones.

The following day, I went to Manassas to visit my aunt and give her some items I brought from Ghana. And well, she gave me my much-needed fix of fufu and chicken soup before I left her place.

fufu with chicken soup at Mama Joyce’s

A friend came to pick me up from my auntie’s place to take me to Alexandria, where we hanged out with his older brother – also a friend. I have been in contact with the brothers, Kwame and Oral for many years and this was the first time meeting them in person so we had quite a good conversation before I went back to my hotel to rest.

The next day, Friday, was all about Washington DC. Those of you who are good with geography would know that DC, Maryland and Virginia (the DMV area) and quite close together, separated by a river. So it took me under an hour to get into Washington DC.

While in DC, I visited the Museum of African American history and culture, which was designed by British Ghanaian architect, David Adjaye and associates.

I also visited the White House, which was disappointingly smaller than I imagined it.

After the walkabouts, I got a late lunch at Georgia Brown’s where I tried jambalaya for the first time. I always thought it was a Jamaican dish perhaps because I first saw it being prepared by a Jamaican, on one of the cooking channels, many years ago. In fact in my mind it was Jamaican jollof (…yeah why not if Jamaicans were largely shipped from West Africa?) So I was surprised to find out it was a dish of Louisiana origin with Spanish and French influence. Anyway, I enjoyed it.

my Jambalaya at Georgia Brown’s

I later linked up again with Kwame in Arlington where I joined his friends to the National Harbor for some more sightseeing.

We concluded the day by passing through Apiioo, a Ghanaian Restaurant in Washington DC before I returned to my hotel.

On Saturday, my last day in Virginia I planned to meet up my auntie in Manassas again to go shopping, and also to see my cousin since she was at work when I visited the first time. My aunt needed to go get some stuff in Fairfax, so we drove that direction before coming back to Manassas to start with our shopping. My cousin, who had rushed out of her work during lunchtime, came to meet me briefly at the Manassas Mall and returned to work.

with my cousin Bettina

Soon, the time for heading to the airport was nearing so we took all the stuff we bought to my aunt’s home to pack them. After packing the bags, we made our way into the car narrowly before it started raining heavily.

The time was winding down quick as we made our way to the airport but we made it just in time to check in and go through security. After all the rush to the airport, I found out my flight had been delayed by an hour due to bad weather.

My whole day was wasted at the airport as the delay moved from a one-hour delay to two hours, and then three hours, until eventually some four hours later we started boarding. Anyway while we waited I had some scrumptious fried boneless tilapia that made me question everything I knew about one of Ghana’s favorite fishes.

Tilapia with hollandaise, fries and salad at Bistro Atelier while waiting for flight

When we boarded the United flight, for the first time in my travel history, my carry-on luggage was not allowed into the flight because according to them, it was bigger than the allowed size. I was told to put my bag in the slot of a stand by the boarding gate to determine whether it met the standard size allowed. Trust me, looking at that slot, only a foolscap notebook can fit in it (ok I’m exaggerating a little bit).

To cut a long story short, my bag was tagged and I was asked to leave it outside of the plane. I was fuming with so much anger, especially when I got on the plane and found bags that were bigger than mine in the overhead lockers. In fact my backpack couldn’t fit in any of the lockers near my seats. As I tried to adjust the bags so mine would fit in a locker, a cabin crewmember casually said to me that I should put my bag in the leg space in front of me. That got me so pissed; I wasn’t going to relax my long legs properly through the flight because people had too many big bags on the plane, and yet mine was left outside.

Also I thought I had heard one of the crew members explain to me at the door that I should pick up my bag from ‘lost and found’ when we arrive. So I just couldn’t hide my anger. After paying for every single bag I carried on the flight, (yes there is nothing free on United), I couldn’t believe I had to go through so much stress with the only free allowance the airline gives. I started attacking United airline on twitter before the plane took off. And while in the air, I couldn’t stop thinking of how to attack them further when I landed.

yes this bag was allowed on the flight…lol

When the plane landed, I got my phone ready trying to capture some bags that were bigger than mine but yet allowed on the flight. I took some photos as we landed and headed the carousel, to pick my luggage. When I saw my carry-on on the carousel and not in ‘lost and found’ like I had imagined, I cooled off a bit, and started to regret for ranting on Twitter.

I got into an Uber and made my way to the hotel I booked in Newark, New Jersey. It was a bit close to the airport also. During check-in, I was asked to present my ID and that was when it hit me that in my anger and attempts to snap photos of hand luggage on the flight, I had left my passport in the seat pocket in front of me. I don’t even want to talk about the things that started to run through my mind at this stage. I immediately requested for an Uber and rushed to the airport to find my passport.

We called United from the hotel before leaving but they weren’t very helpful, we had to go through a rather impersonalized call center before reaching a not so useful agent who told me to fill out a lost and found application online…. really? When I got to the airport I got lost a few times trying to find the right terminal. After asking around, I was directed to the correct terminal and I hopped into an airport taxi there.

I started sending Direct Messages to United on Twitter, yes the same account that I was blasting some few hours earlier. I explained the situation, told them the seat I was in, and gave them some more flight details. After about an hour of waiting and moving from on desk to the other, my passport was finally returned. Phew… what a relief. I could now go back to my hotel to sleep and rest a bit before my flight to Ghana on Sunday evening.

After sleeping for some few hours, I woke up and headed to New York for some last minute shopping before my flight to Ghana. I checked out of the hotel and left my bags with the concierge so that when I returned, I could go straight to the airport, and of course not pay extra for over-staying.

I took a hotel cab to Penn Station, and boarded a train to New York. One of the reasons for going back to shopping was so that I could go to TopMan, which seems to be the only shop that has my trouser length and waist size. Sadly, there was only one pant that I could get in my size, so I left New York with disappointment, and feeling I had wasted the time I could have used for something else.

From New York I had to meet ‘family’ in Madison station, New Jersey because I had promised to stop over to at least eat some ‘ampesi’ or rice with Kontomire sauce before leaving to Ghana. I got on a train in that direction but little did I know that the trip was rather long, and would eat into my time to prepare for the airport. I started to fret, more minutes passed, and the time for my flight worryingly ticked closer. I finally got to meet her but there was only time for small pleasantries. I ordered an Uber to pick me from the Madison Station to my hotel and I left for the hotel with a basket of ‘ampesi’ and rice with Kontomire stew. Yes I ate in the Uber while heading to the hotel, and I could only imagine what the driver was thing…. “These Africans…shaking my head,” I guess!

We made it to the hotel in some good time and I immediately requested for another Uber to come for me to the airport, while I went to collect my luggage from the concierge and also leave the basket with the rest of the food I couldn’t eat. The attendant was a Nigerian, so seemed to easily understand when I told him someone would come later for the basket…ha-ha!!!

I got my bags into the second Uber, which was driven by a fantastic Moroccan woman, and dashed off to the airport. We seemed to be making some good time on the road until we run into serious traffic. Soon, what should have been a 14-minute drive away from the JFK Airport ended up being over one hour!!!

I didn’t give up hope even with a little over an hour to take off. I had checked in online in order to make it less stressful when I finally get to the airport. Soon we got to the end of the crazy traffic, only to realize the hold up was due to an accident when saw a car catching flames.

I speedily made my way to terminal 4 for Delta, and used the porter service outside for quicker results. After checking in, I was told I had 30 minutes more left till boarding. I swiftly run towards the gate and into a long queue through security. I explained to the people in front of me that my flight was soon boarding and they nicely let me move ahead of them each time I asked. I did that bit by bit until I finally made it through security and immigration.

I then dashed straight to my boarding gate where other passengers had already started queuing. I realized that my pass didn’t have a seat allocated on it yet, so I went to the desk to check. I was told to wait a little bit for the system to allocate a seat to me. I was asked to monitor the screens in the waiting area for my details to show once ready.

I went to the waiting area and after some minutes, nothing popped up on the screens, and even if it did I didn’t understand to messages well enough to know it. So I went back to the desk and this time around, I got the boarding pass with me seat number on it. I then breathed easily and made my way to the plane.

I arrived safely in Amsterdam, where I took a KLM flight to Ghana after waiting and working at the airport for some six or so hours.

When I got home to Ghana I went straight to the kitchen to eat some jollof rice for all my troubles…